


Snowflake Falls

by Willowlark



Category: RWBY
Genre: AU, Alternate Ending, Angst, Bad Ending, Canon Compliant, Comfort eventually, Competent!Adam, Gen, Hurt, Jacques is a terrible father, Post-Volume 6 (RWBY), Volume 6 (RWBY), alternative universe, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:54:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25478728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willowlark/pseuds/Willowlark
Summary: AU: It's not Yang to arrive when Blake and Adam duel by the waterfall, it's Weiss. Blake already pinned down, Weiss choses a different tactic to end the fight. She gives Adam something he wants more than Blake. A Schnee.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 41





	1. Eclipse of the Snow

“I wouldn’t have to do this if you would just, behave!” Adam yanks Blake’s wrist down, pulling her head into range as he plows the hilt of Blush into her cheek. She flies back across the stone bridge. Pain flares up in her shoulder after the first bounce, then her knee and finally her hip before she stops bouncing along the rock from the force of the hit. Her scroll was destroyed at the radio tower but her gut told her that her aura must be fading for that to have bled through.

Instinct has her roll back just as Wilt slams down where her legs were. Her knee protests but she comes up to a crouch and manages to bring up Gambol Shroud in time to prevent Wilt from ripping through her stomach. She had no time to prepare for the force of the blow though and was launched back, rolling along the floor. She winces, watching Adam walk up to her, the snarl from her nightmares here in reality, spread across his face. He’s walking slowly, he’s confident. A dark part of Blake’s mind reminds her that he has reason to be. What little of she could feel of her Aura confirms it.

Wilt slides into Blush with a metallic click. “But you’re selfish. A coward.”

“You’re delusional” Blake bites back, despite herself. Adam swings Wilt out again in response, forcing Blake to block with Gambol Shroud. The force of the attack knocks Gambol Shroud from her hand, and she watches with panic rising in her chest as the blade shatters in two in the air. Gambol Shroud’s blade was almost completely detached from the hilt… It was destroyed.

She’s knocked from her side to her back, and she slides back any few inches she can, bringing her legs up between her and Adam. He doesn’t sheath Wilt this time, instead holding it at the ready. She doesn’t move further. She doubts she could move fast enough to dodge the crimson blade, not now. Not as drained as she is.

Adam reaches for his blindfold, the one he’s using in place of the mask. She already knows what’s underneath. The deep red brand looks as fresh as it did when he first showed it to her, so long ago. “SDC” reads clearly over his left eye, which is all but useless.

“People hurt me long before you Blake… All sorts of people… in all sorts of ways. But no one’s hurt me quite like you, Blake. You didn’t leave a scar… You simply left. I can’t make you experience that pain. But…” His smile grows sadistic. “I know all about scars.” Blakes heart freezes, along with her body. Adam presses Wilt into her stomach, as if slowly cracking the last of her aura. Wilt flares with his semblance and her Aura does exactly that, shatters around her. Wilt’s blade is cold on her bare stomach… resting right above her scar.

“I’ll be sure to scar you in every way I know how…” Wilt begins to draw blood and Blake bites her lip, trying not to give Adam the satisfaction of her cry, “It won’t compare to the way you’ve hurt me though. I assure you…” he leans over her, and Blake can’t stop the gasp as she sees the madness in his eyes. “It will hurt.”

Adam’s head whips up in the direction of the forest, as both he and Blake here a rustling of trees. “Show yourself, or I gut her like a fish!” He barks out and as if for emphasis he presses Wilt into Blake’s stomach. A pained gasp escapes her, and she hates herself for it before looking at who stumbled upon them.

The cool blues of Weiss’s dress seem to take on the sheen of the waterfall as she walks out. Myrtenaster in her left hand, her heels clack against the rock. Adam lets her approach to speaking distance as Blake’s mind attempts to figure out how Weiss found her, and how dangerous it is for Weiss to be here. She swallows the warnings she wants to shout, perhaps if Blake pretends they’ve never met… Adam might focus on her, not Weiss. At least Weiss would… Blake’s thoughts are interrupted as Adam drags Wilt along her scar, drawing blood in a crimson line. Blake cries out this time.

Weiss stops at her cry. Her eyes are icy, enraged in the subtle way her teammates can see that no one else can. To anyone else her face is masked in a shroud of the hyper competent Heiress, dangerously collected. “Might I perhaps convince you to release my teammate?” Weiss asks.

Adam cocks an eyebrow and scoffs. “Little girl, you are in far over your head. You should leave now, before I decide to use you as a warm up before dealing with my beloved.”

“If this is how you treat a beloved, I’d hate to see how you treat your enemies.” Weiss shifts her weight to one side, a show of confidence.

“You’ll find out if you don’t turn around now. Blake and I have… catching up to do.”

“Oh? Yet she’s your beloved? Have you been apart long?” Blake desperately tries to convey with her eyes for Weiss to run, afraid to speak Weiss’s name aloud. If Adam found out she was a Schnee there was no way he’d let her go, and it was already a grim miracle he was offer to let her go now. She couldn’t begin to comprehend what Weiss was trying to do in talking to the madman with a sword in Blake’s stomach.

Adam however, appears amused by the question. He looks down at Blake quickly, a sneer that sends a heavy chill up Blake’s spine flashing across his face. Her only saving grace from the disgusting view was Adam’s need to watch Weiss, less the Heiress attack.

“You could say that. Star crossed we are. You see, she continues to run from me, despite my undying love for her. We shared our passions, our lives and now I’ve finally found her. We have so much catching up to do… So much pain to work through together….” He moves Wilt just enough to make Blake gasp in pain.

“I see.” is all Weiss replies. It doesn’t hold Adam’s attention well enough and he takes another leering look up Blake’s body. Blake wants to vomit.

“So if you could just… leave, I have so much to… do with my beloved and so, little time.” Adam says. The glare accompanying the words is all the threat he need give. Blake blinks back tears before swallowing her pride.

“Y-yeah… Me and Adam have… so much… to catch up on. You know me, always reading those kinky books in school… this is… what I want….” The tears fall anyway, so she can’t look at Weiss. At least… if Weiss lives… Blake will have saved someone else from Adam’s rampaging.

“Perhaps I can give you something you want even more than your beloved.” Blake whips her head around, tears on her face and hissing through the pain from Wilt. Adam’s laughter fills her ears as she searches Weiss’s face. The Heiress’s expression is frozen in her business face, not a single emotion showing for Adam to read. Blake searches Weiss’s eyes for anything, anything that will convince her teammate to not die beside her.

“What could any one person possibly offer me that’s better than Blake?” Adam laughs. The laughter causes him to move Wilt centimeters deeper into Blake’s stomach yet that much is enough to draw more tears and and bit back cries from the woman. Weiss closes her eyes, as if this was a movie where a dramatic pause would add to the tension.

“Revenge. I haven’t introduced myself, have I?” Blake’s eyes widen and she makes to scream before it’s too late-

“Weiss Schnee, second daughter of Jacques Schnee, Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. I can tell by your face you’ve met my father.” The despair crushes Blake. Weiss was as good as dead. Blake couldn’t even die right, she had to bring Weiss down with her. Tears flow freely down her face.

Adam stares incredulously. Oh he snarls a bit at the quip about his scar, but he clearly had no idea just who was on team RWBY with Blake.

“I’ll go with you as your hostage. Use me, abuse me, sell me off, kill me, whatever you feel will best stick it to my father. I recommend tarnishing his public image, he hates that.” Weiss says as if talking about the weather. “And you will let Blake go.” Weiss is smiling, smiling as she says this! Blake can barely watch as Adam’s face contorts with dark thoughts. The chuckle that slips from his mouth is just as dark.

“Quite the noble woman you are, Weiss Schnee. Nothing like your monstrous father, that’s for sure.” He sneers. “Or do you get a profit out of what you’re doing? I can’t image a Schnee doing anything that doesn’t increase their power over others.”

Weiss drops Myrtenaster and holds her hands out wide. “No profits to be found here, asides from Blake’s continued health. You aren’t going to find a deal this good anywhere else I’m afraid. You can trust me on that, as you said, Schnee’s know profits.” That earns her a laugh from Adam, short and savage, but he then can’t seem to stop laughing.

“This is truly, truly my lucky day! Schnee,” he spits the name out, like a cruel man would address a dog, “I’ll accept your terms. Start by coming over here, and leave the weapon. The belt of gear too. Don’t think you can smuggle a way to escape me along.”

Weiss takes a deep breath, somehow smiling. “That would go against our deal wouldn’t it?” She says lightly, her belt and dust pouches dropping to the ground around her. Her dress unfurls to her feet, the belt what was folding over the skirt. She walks with a strange form of confidence, hands spread out in the air and the mask unflinching on her face. She keeps her eyes trained on Adam as she does, not seeing the streams of tears across Blake’s face. Her sobs found no purchase in her throat as she silently watched Weiss approach.

“W…Weiss, don’t… don’t do this….” Blake horsely chokes out as the Heiress draws near. “I-I… I’m not worth this, please…!” Weiss doesn’t look down to her.

“I think you are.”

Weiss’s wrist is grabbed by Adam as soon as she was in range. With his off hand her twists her arm behind her back forcefully, the Heiress letting out a grunt from the pressure. He pulls her right beside him and let’s go, only to begin patting down her entire body, looking for hidden weapons. He’s rough about it but Weiss stands still so he can assure she had no tricks up her sleeve.

He’s eventually satisfied and grabs Weiss’s wrist again, keeping it twisted painfully behind her. A firm hold on her, he lifts Wilt from Blake’s stomach and slams a heavy boot into the wound he made. Blake rolls a few feet away with a cry and clutches the now freely bleeding gash in her stomach.

“Well Blake. It appears my love for you isn’t entirely undying. Maybe we’ll meet again, though not for awhile. Your dear friend and I have some getting to know each other to do.” He says over his shoulder before he pushes Weiss forward. She stumbles but walks without a word. Blake lifts her self up to her knees, deep sobs ripping through her chest and making pain lance out from her stomach. Her vision is watery and her throat is raw as the back of her most hated enemy walks away with one of her dearest friends, the symbol on Adam’s back eclipsing the snowflake on Weiss’s. She makes to move after them but her body won’t respond, and she collapses to the ground, barely choking out the “no” that was a scream inside her head.


	2. Chapter 2

Adam forced Weiss along some kind of route through the woods, jabbing the barrel of his shotgun Blush into the small of her back to remind her not to try anything. Whenever she was supposed to turn her grabbed her shoulder and twisted her roughly in the right direction. He didn't speak at all, instead seemingly lost in thought. Weiss wasn't going to risk the faunus's obvious temper with a conversation, which left her alone with her thoughts as well.

It took till now for Weiss to actually realize what she had done. Everything all the way from when she first heard Adam's possessive ranting about Blake as she approached the clearing had been impulsive, an immediate choice in her mind. Adam... Blake never talked about him, but Yang mentioned he had a history with Blake and was the one who... attacked them during the Fall. The history part makes sense to Weiss now, the faunus is clearly obsessed with Blake. Weiss doesn't blame her for running away anymore. Adam... reminds Weiss of her own father, in the way he controls and manipulates.

That's why Weiss approached the way she did. Her father ingrained in her all of the rules for the perfect daughter he wanted, obedient, submissive, and ready to serve all throughout her childhood. There were so many nights of forced practice on how to 'never embarrass him', 'only add to his image', and 'how to be useful daughter'. It was a different flavor, one born of greed rather than rage but the purpose was the same. Jacques and Adam were abusive and manipulative.

Weiss supposed she should be glad Blake got herself out in the first place. Jacques had control of her life, her appearance but he wasn't willing to physically enforce them. Well. Not usually. Adam seemed willing to do anything to control Blake, consequences be damned. And she was now the captive of said man, who clearly had some issues with the SDC.

She tosses around the idea of offering Adam her key to the manor and letting the radical eliminate her father in one fell swoop, if only for a moment. The two men deserved each other. She bites her lip, suppressing a sigh. There's no way she could approve of that.

Weiss had larger fish to fry after all. Assuming Blake can get the rest of the team, it will be quite a while before anyone can follow their tracks. She needs to manage to stay alive, hopefully uninjured until they can find her. Her optimism for an escape on her own is low. As much as she hates it... She'll have to go back to being the good little girl Daddy always wanted, if only for this one last show. Tell Adam what he wants to hear, feed into his need to control her... but never too much. It's a fine line before he starts getting other ideas in his head.

Adam yanks her shoulder, forcing her to angle to the left. She forces herself to let out a meek squeak as he does it.

At least Blake should be safe. Adam would do far worse to her, at least Weiss assumes. He may hate the SDC and she may be the Heiress of the SDC, but if he was in the business of petty revenge he'd have run her through already. He wants something bigger. Money? Possibly, but she got the feel Adam was a true radical. Money alone would change things in his eyes. He probably wants to she Jacques in chains, mining till he expires.

... Weiss allows herself a little amusement at that. Were she not desperately trying to keep her mind from realizing how dangerous the man behind her was, she'd love the mental picture. But as it stands... A nondescript truck reveals itself from the treeline. He pushes her up to the back of the truck.

"Grab the rope," Adam growls, pointing at a coil of it near the tail of the truck. The truck's contents look like it belongs to an animal control unit. Weiss hopes Adam stole this truck when it was unattended. She tries not to put the reason why into words as he ties her hands roughly behind her. He tightens the knot roughly, Weiss can't help but wince. "Not used to a little discomfort Schnee?" He says, looking amused by her pain.

She looks down and away from him, biting her lip. He snorts and pulls her around to the passenger side door of the cabin. He shoves her roughly inside, slamming the door before coming around to the driver's seat. He grabs at her dress as soon as the door is closed and alarm courses through her, but he only tears a piece off the bottom. He grabs her by the ponytail, yanking her close enough so that he can use the ripped piece as a blindfold. Shortly after he huffs and starts the engine. She doesn't bother asking where they're going.

\---

Weiss tries to keep track of time as the car prattles along. It's loud and hot in the cabin (despite the cold in Argus, somehow) and when Adam removes the blindfold, the sun was just setting. Her estimate was off, and she bites the inside of her lip. They were stopped in a back alley parking lot, with a single steel door leading into a nondescript business. The parking lot was empty, asides from them. Adam is checking a scrap of paper, torn from pocket notebook based on the size. He clucks his tongue and gets out of the car. She watches him stalk around the front of the truck and he pulls her out, leading her towards the door. She looks around, hoping there was literally anyone who could see the obvious captive being lead into a suspicious building, but where ever they were, it was secluded.

Adam fumbles with a keyring while holding her upper arm in a terrible vice grip. He finds the key he's looking for and pushes in the unlocked door. Weiss takes in the building, immediately recognizing it as an animal control facility of some kind. Her guess about the origin of the truck was spot on. It appears empty, probably closed for the night. Adam pulls her inside, almost causing her to stumble on the door frame, then locks the door behind them. He glances about as if taking in the place himself. Weiss mentally notes he probably hasn't.

Adam eventually makes a decision, dragging her down a hallway. They pass the backside of the reception desk and what looks like a kennel, Adam kicking in the next door after that on the right. It's a veterinary style room, cabinets and counters lining two walls, an example table across from them against the wall, and right in the middle of the room an oversized animal crate, probably for whatever animal was next to be examined. Adam laughs.

"Would you look at that." He lets go of Weiss arm only to grab her by her hair again. She actually cries in pain at that. He pulls her up to the create, unlatching it and shoving her inside. He locks the door on her as she adjusts her feet under her. "Absolutely fitting don't you think? The Schnee family has enslaved Faunus in their mines for decades, it's only fitting you end up in a cage." He rustles around in various drawers around the room. Weiss eyes the latch, pretty sure she could flip it even with her back turned when Adam leaves. "You'll stay in there until I decide how I can do the most damage to your family...", he picks up something from the drawer, "And the most damage to you."

In his hands is a chain leash. Weiss grimaces, praying that wasn't going to be put on her, but instead he latches one end to the latch of the chain, the other to a support column on the other side of the room. The chain barely reaches, meaning unless she can pull the latch with enough force to bring down the support column... She wasn't sliding the latch at all.

"Just in case you were thinking of escaping." He reaches in between the bars of the crate, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look right at him as he sneers, "Though you promised you wouldn't, didn't you? Not that I can trust the word of a Schnee" he spits the word Schnee and twists her face to the side as he releases her. He turns on his heel and leaves the room, and Weiss lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She was okay... at least for now.

She tests summoning her miniature knight, the same trick she pulled when captured by Raven. He appears, but she dismisses him immediately. She can wait till she has a plan to cut her hands free, in case Adam returns before she gets out and sees her arms free. However... Her miniature knight gives her an idea. Perhaps rope wasn't all he could cut.

\---

It's not long before Adam returns to the vet room. She can't quite tell with the blindfold, but Weiss considers it a pretty safe guess he's in a bad mood.

"You have the absolute worst family, you know that?" He says, slamming the door behind him. She doesn't reply, if this was Jacques the question would be rhetorical. Adam continues, proving her right. "Not only do they abuse faunus like their animals, not only do they keep them enslaved with garbage wages, but they don't even give a right shit about you." Weiss wants to laugh, though the good little girl mask stays on her face.

"I said Weiss Schnee needs a flight into Atlas, after being rescued from bandits. Apparently the Atlesian went all the way to your father who said 'good riddance'! You were born unlucky, that's for sure." He looks over to her, with what she thinks is a discerning look on his face. He wants an answer, he's trying to gauge her.

"I could have been much worse off." She says. She didn't realize how dry her throat was. Adam looks away from her again, so she assumes she answered well enough for him.

"Yes, you certainly could have. I don't know how Blake could even stand to be around you, knowing what you've condoned. You let innocent people be branded." He smiles at her, and it makes her uncomfortable. "Not me of course, I'm not innocent by any stretch. The faunus needed a monster on their side, someone who would do what to do be done. A monster to combat the monster that your father is." He lifts himself from his position leaning against the wall and crouches down in front of the crate.

"Does your father think I was a monster? Do you?" He says, still smiling. Weiss doesn't have to fake it when she looks away uncomfortably this time.

"My father... thinks only of money. You caused him millions of Lien in losses so... He absolutely thought you were a monster." She can feel his eyes not leave her.

"And you, Princess of Greed?" He asks. His voice is filled with an edge, a promise of violence, an assurance that there is absolutely a wrong answer, all wrapped up in a sweet-sounding package.

"I lost many people who cared about me to you. I suffered as a girl, losing anyone who did care to me to attacks." She says. Her mask feels weak, being forced to talk about such things was cracking it. Not out of sorrow, no she made peace with her disaster father only caring about the company bottom line already. She was angry that Adam thought he could weaken her with a dig about her father's company, that he thought she'd be scared of him.

Still, despite the slipping, Adam hadn't caught on as of yet. He stands back up. "Good. You should be scared." He says, she thinks more to himself than her. She's fluffed his ego, which is good. It keeps him calm... Keeps her as an afterthought in his mind. If she stood out, he'd want to beat her back down till he was assured he controlled her again. Adam would hate to know how much of Jacques he has in him.

"It's a shame Blake's will was so weak, that she was such a coward," Adam says, louder, so Weiss knows she's talking to him. "She was the ultimate partner you see. With her by my side I could take out your entire family, I'm positive. But she gave up on the cause. Gave up and fled to that damn Huntsman academy." Adam stops, abruptly. Weiss barely has time to register this is very bad for her before he whips around.

"You! What's your semblance?!" He shouts at her. She frantically spins a lie, about to say Ruby's instead of her own but Adam draws his sword with a loud ring of metal. "It's not like I can trust your words. You won't be able to use your semblance without Aura."

Weiss's eyes go wide as Wilt is thrust in between the bars of the crate aggressively. Adam laughs and growls as Weiss genuinely screams, her aura fading as it desperately tries to keep her from being impaled. "Stop this! Please!" She manages to choke out through the dull pain of aura damage. Adam only snarls and stabs the blade into her harder. She can feel her aura shatter in that very moment and panics "It's gone! It's gone please!" She screams and balls up further on the opposite side of the crate, trying to keep from being impaled on the now very deadly sword. Adam sneers and thrusts again, slower, and puts the blade a few inches into her calf. Weiss screeches with pain and he pulls it out roughly, still laughing.

"Trust me Princess, there are worse things." He says. "I'd know." He turns to a drawer he looked in earlier and pulls out a small bandage kit. He drops it in the top crate, raking in the Heiress's tears. "Let's hope you aren't a fast healer." Weiss breaks the mask, glaring at him. He smiles. "So you do have some fight in you. I knew it was somewhere in there. Though I just got a wonderful idea..."

Adam leaves the room and before Weiss can even think about opening the first aid kit, Adam returns with a metallic object in his hand. She starts to panic again when he undoes the chain holding back the latch of the crate. He opens the gate and holds out a hand expectantly. Injured as she is, Weiss decides now was not the time to argue with whatever his cruel idea is. She shifts forward, though not fast enough for his taste. He grabs her ponytail, pulling her head right into his reach. He takes the object and slides it over her head, fastening it tightly. He chuckles darkly.

"It's a choker collar, I'm sure you've used one on miners before." Weiss can feel small spikes on the inside of the collar digging into her neck. "I've tightened it just enough to be a constant thorn in your side. It should keep your aura from regenerating. Isn't that great?" He pulls out his sword and Weiss tries to shift away pre-emptively, but he merely cuts the rope binding her hands. He sheathes Wilt and relocks the crate, including the leash mechanism. She watches him carefully until he makes to leave the room. He stops with his hand on the door.

"Do you know why it's great Schnee?" Weiss doesn't answer. "I'd have to wear myself out beating your aura out of you every other hour if not for that collar. You should be thankful." She bites back the urge to spit retorts at him as he leaves the room.

Weiss sits back, focusing on her racing heart. She breathes heavily, trying to calm herself as best she can. As soon as the adrenaline fades her calf begins to throb and she winces, clutching for it. She reaches for the first aid kit and tears it open, beginning to wrap her and disinfect her leg. The collar makes it hard for her to look down and she curses aloud. She'll need a new escape plan, that much was for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blake's not going to take this standing down, and we'll find out what she's up to in the next chapter. In an ideal world, these chapters will alternate between Weiss and Blake till a dramatic finale? I probably shouldn't be thinking about a finale already though, one step at a time XD
> 
> It's kind of spoilery to say so but I'm while I'm a sucker for some Dark Shit tm, this isn't a tragedy. Things will turn around for the girls down the line. I love Weiss and Blake too much for a real bad ending!


	3. Chapter 3

Blake's eyes itch, puffy and red. It distracts her enough from the spiral of fears for what could be happening to Weiss at this very moment to lift her head from the position she curled herself into. Her right arm is numb, it slowly comes to her that she's been applying pressure to the stab wound Adam gave her. Her Aura has recovered enough to encourage her body to scab it over now. That much is good. It will still need stitches... but Adam was looking to cause pain, not kill. That's what he'll do to...

Blake cuts her mind off. Right now her tears are dry. No matter how guilty she is for putting Weiss into Adam's hands... she found her escape from the spiral. Right now... Right now was time to make right by Weiss. Blake shifts herself to her knees, and then slowly to her feet. She can beg Weiss's forgiveness and praise her teammate's sacrifice later. She tried running from Adam when he hurt Yang, hurt Yang to get to her. So that plan won't work, if you can even call it a plan. She was a coward then. 

Sun's words echo in her head. "When your friends fight for you, it's because it's because they want to." Yang fought for her, Weiss fought for her... Now Blake's going to bring the fight to Adam. He'll be too busy coming up with the most damage he can do with his hands on a Schnee heiress. Adam won't expect her to be the one to hunt him down. Blake owes Weiss's at least that much.

Blake picks up Gambol Shroud, recalling that the blade had been cut in half during her duel with Adam. She closes her eyes, taking a moment of mourning for the weapon. Gambol Shroud had been her custom built in the Fang, but fittingly Adam helped her build it. He destroyed it, much like he destroyed everything in her life. 

... She throws the broken blade into the sheath first, then places the hilt in over it. Best not to go down that road. She makes her way to Weiss's belt and the discarded Myrtenaster. If her eyes weren't still so dry, seeing the white rapier discarded like so might have drawn another tear from her. Blake puts the belt on before gingerly lifting the sword. Yang suggested they all cross-train with each other's weapons at one point, back at Beacon. Yang clearly just wanted to swing around Myrtenaster and blow things up in the practice yard, so Weiss had quickly shut her down... Looking at the full dust canisters, Blake wished they let Yang get away with her antics back then. 

Myrtenaster is placed into its loop on the belt, and Blake fishes around in Weiss's belongings for the heiress's scroll. Blake's had been destroyed in the fight with Adam, and she needed to get in touch with... hold herself accountable to the rest of the team. She found it in the second pouch, but Weiss had a passcode. Blake growls. Of course, why wouldn't she? Blake almost throws the scroll, but stops herself. 

She just has to follow the tracks then. She can manage, the light snow made their footprints easy to see. Blake stumbles a little, her side protesting to the movement, but she presses her hand to the wound and soldiers on. 

\---

The trail ended near the road to Argus, leaving Blake to assume Adam went towards the town. He'd need a way to broadcast about his captive, and he can't do that in the wilderness. Even knowing that, he clearly had a vehicle of some kind and it was a long walk to town. Her side was actively biting into her Aura now, stopping her regeneration. If she kept pushing it, she might actually start to lose Aura from the constant needling pain as she walked. 

It was with that revelation luck decided Blake had enough shit today, apparently. The first truck to come down the road, from the direction of the relay tower was being driven by no other than Terra Cotta-Arc. The older woman recognizes Blake and pulls over.

"Blake? Aren't you supposed to be in At-," She gasps when she sees Blake's stomach, "What happened?!" Terra immediately takes Blake's arm and puts it over her shoulder, supporting some of Blake's weight. 

"..." The words come to mind, she was attacked, Weiss is in danger, she has no idea what happened to her team... But the adrenaline fades from her system and the only thing she can do is choke back a sob. 

"It's okay Blake... I'll get you back to the house, don't worry about a thing," Terra says, though it sounds hazy to Blake's ears. She wants to laugh, as if she'll stop worrying. Weiss is out there with Adam and she let it happen. Terra pushes Blake into the passenger seat and the worn-out leather of the chair instantly calls to her tired mind. Blake can feel consciousness slipping from her so she tries to murmur out a 'thank you' to Terra before sleep pulls her in entirely. She's not sure if she succeeds.

\---

Blake awakens on a couch in a familiar house. The memories quickly flood back to her, not of casserole and friends around a table but of Adam's back encompassing Weiss's, as if consuming her. Blake looks about quickly, spotting Terra and Saphron on the couch across from her. 

"Blake!" Saphron stands, moving to a crouch next to Blake. Blake tries to sit up, but Saphron lightly holds her down. "We only stitched you up an hour ago, it's too soon to be moving."

"There's no time," Blake says, clipped, her mind already firing on all cylinders. 

"What do you mean, what happened to you?" 

"I-I..." Blake looks between Saphron's wide eyes, and Terra's worried expression hovering behind her. She'll have to be able to say this soon anyway, when she gets a scroll. Might... Might as well start now. 

"An old... enemy of mine found me at the relay tower. He attacked me and... and would have killed me, if not for Weiss." Blake says, unable to look at either Cotta-Arc's face. "W...Weiss is the SDC heiress and he... having her as a hostage was worth more than killing me. She gave herself up so I could get away."

"Blake..." Saphron says through her hands. Blake doesn't hear it in her voice, but she knows that Saphron must blame her. Like all of the team will. 

"It was my fault, but I'm going to find him!" She catches her voice rising, exhaling to steel herself. "I know how he operates, how he thinks. I just need a scroll to tell the team and a business directory for the town." Blake crosses her fingers, under the blanket that was draped over her, hoping Terra and Saphron don't throw her out for being a failure of a huntress. 

"Here Blake," Saphron says, pressing the phone into Blake's hand. Saphron's eyes are steely, they remind Blake of Jaune whenever he finds some confidence in a fight. "We've got both, and we'll help anyway we can." Terra nods in agreement as she returns from the bookshelves with a massive yellow book in hand. Blake smiles, despite everything. She can see how Saphron is related to Jaune, she's too kind for her own good, even to a failure like herself. Blake sits up, her resolve swelling. She has to save Weiss now. She has to end this with Adam, once and for all. For Weiss... and because Saphron and Terra Cotta-Arc believe in her. 

"I... need to talk to my team, if I can get a hold of them... Do you mind if," Saphron cuts Blake off.

"We'll give you a few minutes," she says with a pat on the shoulder. The wives head upstairs, and Blake stares at the unlocked phone. The numbers look imposing to her, she knows Yang's number... She knows all of their numbers, but... They must be so worried and telling them will only... She feels her heart starting to pound, and her breathing quicken. In a last-ditch attempt she dials like a madwoman, hitting call before her mind can tell her all the reasons she should run, just like she did in the past.

The dial tones seem extended like their entire minutes apart. Blake's heart drowns out the fourth dial entirely, and by the sixth, she's about ready to panic and throw the phone away but she hears a voice. 

"It's Yang, I'm probably saving the world or something right now so leave a message and I'll get back to after I save the day!" The voicemail greeting echoes in Blake's mind and she can't help but laugh. Of course. It was fitting. But maybe this would be better. The beep goes off, and she starts to talk.

"Yang, it's Blake. I...I don't know where you all are right now, but something... something happened. I'm with Jaune's sister right now, but I'm going back out into Argus asap because..." Blake can picture Yang's face, back at Beacon as she lost her arm to Adam, and it makes her want to hang up but she presses on, "Because Adam found me, he found me and Weiss gave herself up to him so that I could get away! I'm so so so sorry, I'll find her! I promise I'll find her so please," The beep tones, indicating the message stopped recording, "please don't hate me..." Blake sobs, tears streaming down her face. They well up in her, deep in her chest and she coughs as the tears come faster than she can breathe. It must have alerted Saphron and Terra because a moment later she can feel a hand on her back, rubbing small circles. 

Saphron and Terra don't press her, bless them. After a few minutes like that Blake wipes her eyes, gazing lifting to the yellow book on the coffee table. She looks to Saphron and Terra, nodding to each of them, a silent thanks in her eyes. She reaches forward and grabs the book, looking for the listing of book stores.

\---

Blake lost a night to recovery and getting back to town, and had little time to lose. Adam had Weiss an entire night already and she wasn't going to leave her friend with him any longer than she has to. There were four bookstores in Argus, and she checked two before she found one owned by a Faunus. She watched the store from across the street, arms wrapped around herself in the white leather jacket she borrowed from Saphron. When the store had no customers she made her way towards the door. 

Stepping inside, Blake slides a doorstop over with her foot, kicking it into the closed door, barring entry from the outside. She stalks her way up the counter, a hand resting on Myrtenaster's hilt at her waist. The bear faunus at the counter eyed her up, his bear nose twitching. 

"I need a copy of the Third Crusade," Blake says, staring the man down. His eyes flick up to her ears. 

"We don't carry that one, I'm afraid." He replies. "It's been out of print for a while." Crap. They changed the codeword apparently. The man's left hand reaches for something under the desk and Blake whips Gambol Shroud's pistol form into his face. 

"You sure? The name on the reservation is Adam Taurus." Blake silently prays Adam's antics at Haven hadn't made it this far north yet. She's rewarded for this ploy when the man falters. He suddenly looks nervous, glancing back towards the door, like saying the bull faunus's name could summon him.

"Sorry, I didn't realize. We did have that on the shelf in the back," he says, his hands lifting up. Blake puts on her best smirk. 

"I'm glad to hear that." She drawls and follows the Faunus into the backroom. Like all of the book stores the White Fang operates, (her suggestion, back in her leadership days), the backroom had a bulletin board with various locations pinned on a map for 'deliveries'. The book being delivered was the kind of safehouse at that location, and the delivery instructions indicated how to access the place. She skimmed the Argus map for safehouses that might suit Adam as the bear Faunus looked on nervously. Blake's attention is drawn to a torn page, only a corner of the paper still pinned to the location.

"What's at this location?" Blake says quickly. The bear Faunus raises an eyebrow.

"It's where Adam is now, which I would assume you know...?" He questions. Blake nods her head pointedly at the handle of Gambol Shroud, peaking out over her shoulder. 

"I ask the questions here, you understand?" He doesn't seem intimidated by her, his posture becoming less rigid than before, when she brought up Adam. Luckily for her, he wasn't the most dedicated Fang member. 

"Sure. The place is an animal control center. We keep it running, two Fang members run the place. They don't do much animal control work, but it gives us access to big vans with cages for capturing targets." Bingo, Adam's vehicle must have been one of those trucks. "Adam stormed in here yesterday morning, looking for a safe house he could 'interrogate someone' in. Told me that I was to inform the guys running the place to stay away for the next few days. He sounded real, well..." He looks away awkwardly. Blake glares at him, and he shuffles on his feet.

"He sounded real feral. Like he was going to enjoy this interrogation in an uh..." Blake makes a face.

"I got it. He's a real freak show, that one."

The bear Faunus looks put off. "He's our leader thou-,"

"The White Fang was defeated enforce at Haven Academy. There is no Atlas branch, and the Vale branch was destroyed by Adam when he collaborated in the Fall of Beacon. He's the leader of nothing, just a sadistic man looking to do as much damage as he can" Blake nearly spits out. 

"We're... the Fang is gone?" Ah.

"You've been around since the beginning?" He nods. "The new Fang is gone. Ghira Belladonna is leading a new movement, down in Haven. If you want to get involved, find him. He'll help you make a real difference, no more of this back alley kidnapping work," Blake turns around, writing down the address of the pin on the board. She hesitates for a moment. "They need all the loyal people they can get. You'd be a big help." She adds, not looking at him. He doesn't reply. Blake waves behind her, marching her way out of the store. She checks the nearest street sign and walks deeper into Argus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The theme of this fic is "Out of Kindness" from the Persona 5 Royal Soundtrack. Careful looking it up if you're a Persona 5 fan who hasn't found the time to play Royal, it's from the additional semester! But the track has this perfect sense of urgency and underlying madness that's worked wonders when writing each of these chapters. 
> 
> Like and Subscribe or is it Read and Review? One of those things, I enjoy hearing from people! 


	4. Chapter 4

Blake circles Hill street twice before choosing an alley to head down. The sketchy neighborhood's residents didn't make to stop her, or even notice much more about her than her ears. This close to Atlas, Blake was sure it was because Faunus were a normal sight around here. Humanitarian aid tended to be preferential towards humans in Atlas.

There's a small silver lining in that blatant racism, at least today. Blake's eyes scan the different alleys as she walks past, finding any possible entry to the back lot where the animal control center Adam was supposedly holding Weiss in. There was a main entrance of sorts, but if Adam had access to any security cameras he'd see her coming. No other alley in the block seemed to connect to the lot, but on her second pass around the block she spots a fire escape on the side of an apartment building.

Blake frowns, reaching behind her for her broken weapon. The ribbon seemed solid still, but without a workshop or Ruby she couldn't be sure if Gambol Shroud would still function as a grappling hook, or if trying would damage it further. She looks for other angles, maybe even a dumpster to climb on, but nothing stands out to her. 

Her hand clenches around the hilt. Praying for the weapon that helped her escape Adam the first time to survive just a bit longer, she toss it up the fire escape. She sprints towards the wall, running up it and pulling against Gambol Shroud to elevate herself as her feet push her higher. The familiar motion is undercut with a sense of dread that she'll no longer have Gambol Shroud at the end but as she flips off the wall onto the fire escape with a soft clank of metal, her longtime companion seems no worse for the already heavy wear. Blake lets out a sigh she didn't know she was holding. 

The rest of the climb is quick, and she finds herself on a roof overlooking the back lot. She can see the animal control center's sign to her right, hanging over a small stoop. The parking lot itself is mostly empty, the only vehicles a pickup truck and a van, both emblazoned with "Animal Control" on the side. 

The tinkling of a bell causes Blake's ears to twitch and her body to slam prone on the roof, afraid of being spotted. She checks her surroundings on the roof before peering over the lip of the roof. An all too familiar red head has entered the lot and an icy fear grips Blake's heart. Her autopilot begins to scream run, but Adam yanks Weiss out of the animal control center's door at that very moment, the heiress stumbling down the steps. The panic subsides, replaced with pure adrenaline. Weiss saved her yesterday, today it would be Blake's turn. 

Blake watches, moving to a crouched position as Adam pushes Weiss towards the van. He opens the back of it, then shoves Weiss instead. He climbs in after her, and Blake quickly latches Gambol Shroud around a chimney beside her. She checks quickly that Adam hasn't left the van yet before rappelling down the side of the building as fast as she can, releasing Gambol Shroud with a tug three-quarters of the way down. She drops, falling behind the pick up that's parked opposite the van with a thump. With practiced grace, she immediately slides under the pickup, moving up to get a view of the inside of the van. 

She's only met with a view of Adam closing the doors of the van. He turns to head towards the driver's seat. Blake's mind spins into overdrive, if she loses the two of them here she may never find them again. She the element of surprise over Adam, but a broken Gambol Shroud and Myrtenaster left her at a major disadvantage once combat began. She begins calculating the odds of drawing police into the fight, and their odds of survivability if she did, her thoughts are interrupted by a loud growl from Adam. He stomps back towards the animal control center, tossing a set of keys on the floor. Blake braces herself to sprint.

As soon as the door is thrown open by Adam Blake bolts across the lot for the back of the van. She watches the door swing closed behind Adam out of the corner of her eye, heart pounding as she realizes that as soon as it opens he'll be able to see her. She stops herself just short of slamming into the back of the van, fumbling with the door release. She pulls it open and dives inside as she yanks the door closed. Her heart races as she listens with her ear to the door for the sounds of an enraged Adam charging after her.

She hears a door slam, then footsteps approaching. While it doesn't sound like he's running but Blake doesn't dare breathe until the footsteps pass by the van's back doors. When she can hear him tear the driver side door open, the tension breaks in Blake's entire body as she exhales.

Blake spins about, getting deeper into the van before Adam spots her in the review mirror. She double takes as she sees Weiss on her knees in a dog crate with a padlock on it and some kind of dog collar around her neck. Her clothes are battered and she has a dressed wound on her right leg. Despite all that, Weiss somehow manages to look amused, sarcastic even as she smiles.

"You finally noticed me, huh?" The heiress whispers. 

"Weiss, I,I-" The words don't come to Blake as the van engine starts and Adam pulls it out of the lot. The various crates, including Weiss's, in the back of the truck bang together as the van presumably turns onto the main road. Blake makes her way up the crate Weiss is in, her eyes watering as she takes in her teammate's appearance. "I, I'm so sor-"

"Nothing to be said Blake, you'd have done the same for me with my psycho stalker," Weiss waves a hand in the hand in the air.

"No, this is-"

"Blake," Weiss says, a pleading edge coming into her voice. "Not now. I can't do a heart to heart and go back to keeping a brave face in front of Adam. We have to get out of this first."

Blake's eyebrows quirk in confusion, but she nods hesitantly. "I'll trust you on that. What's... what's happening?"

"He tried contacting my family last night but said they didn't give him time of day. Typical of my Father, I doubt he got a hold of Winter. I don't know where he's driving us to now."

"It won't matter much if I can get this lock open," Blake says as she begins pulling at the lock. 

"We'll what, jump from a moving car?"

"We're in the middle of Argus, as soon as we do there will be people around to curtail Adam's..." Blake shivers slightly and Weiss finishes the thought. 

"No more needs to be said."

"... Damnit, I can't force this!" Blake hisses, barely remembering to keep her voice low. "I have Myrtenaster here, can you use it to break the lock?" Weiss looks between the lock and her weapon on Blake's hip. 

"... With my aura broken I can't use my semblance, what's the brand on the lock?" Blake leans over to investigate the fine text on the lock.

"Is that because..."

"Yeah, the collar is a literal pain in my neck. He's smart, I'd have been long gone by morning if he cut off access to my semblance," Blake opens her mouth to reply but is cut off before she can get a syllable out. "And there's no need for apologies, remember, business now, trauma later." Blake winces. Shoving her fear of how much trauma Weiss has endured and if Weiss will ever forgive her for it, Blake nods. 

"...The brand is, ha, Schnee Dust Company."

"Damn, I figured as much. Those are designed to withstand violate dust, dust won't break it either. I think the key is our only option."

"Why would an animal control crate has a SDC style lock?!" Blake hisses.

"Because SDC makes anything and everything in Atlas," Weiss mutters. The two huntresses fall into silence, the only sounds coming from the rumbling of the van. 

"How... how am I going to get you out then?" Blake finally asks. Blake winces at the finality in her voice, the fear of not being able to free Weiss seeping out of her. Weiss doesn't respond for a moment, biting the inside of her lip nervously. Even when she does, the first thing she does is sigh.

"You... You aren't. Wait, hear me out!" Blake closes her mouth and shelves her objection. "Adam's not going to kill me anytime soon, he wants too much from my Father. Where ever he's taking us, it has something to do with convincing my Father to submit to his demands."

"It... makes sense. Despite the psychopathic personality, A...Adam was always good in his role as a terrorist."

"Quite," Weiss mutters. "So we're agreed I'm not going to be offed anytime soon, I'm still too valuable. You, on the other hand, the freak is still drooling over having," Weiss makes air quotes, "all to himself." Weiss and Blake share a disgusted look between the two, and they manage a small laugh over it. The little bit of laughter feels like 30 pounds lifted from Blake's shoulders. 

"Anyway," Weiss continues, "We can't let him find you until we can stop him or escape for good. I'm not about to toss you to your psycho ex for the rest of your life."

"I'm not leaving him with you, either," Blake replies immediately, her tone firmer than she'd ever heard before. Weiss blinks, then Blake is rewarded with a soft smile. 

"I know you won't. We're teammates, right?" Blake nods emphatically as her only response.

"So, back on topic," Weiss says after the soft moment has passed, "You can't get taken by him and I won't get killed until Father submits to Adam's demands. For the first time ever, my Father's endless stubbornness and lack of emotional attachment to his children will prove useful, you'll have time to tail me and Adam and look for the opening we need."

The girls' conversation is stalled as the van turns onto what feels like a dirt road. Weiss and Blake share a look, both assuming their time together was drawing to a close. That fear is proven fact as they slow down and the engine is turned off.

"I got the plan, Weiss. I swear to you I'll end this as soon as I can," Blake says. Weiss nods quickly and motions behind her. Blake finds a crate with plastic walls rather than metal grat which she turns the front of to face the side of the van. She takes one last look at Weiss before hiding herself in the crate. It's not 10 seconds before the back door opens and Adam's voice echoes through the back of the van.

"Hope you enjoyed the ride, Princess," he growls. Weiss doesn't reply but Blake can hear the sliding of a crate and then the sounds of Weiss being pulled from it. Blake covers her mouth, afraid she'll yell something unconsciously and end up with both of them captured. The van doors slam like a thunderclap and Blake finds herself alone once again. 

\---  
\---

Good News Everyone.jpg

This whole fic is written! I got a couple of chapters cranked out during NaNoWriNo (I lasted like, 4 days) and the rest just recently! I'mma post them over the next few weeks, but read away knowing that the story will in fact get an ending!

Hope you're suffering through Volume 8 along with the rest of us! It's the best Volume yet but every episode is murder on my heart (^^);;


	5. Chapter 5

"Hope you enjoyed the ride, Princess," Adam says through a sneer. Weiss doesn't react, goading him could risk Blake being discovered. Adam grabs at the crate Weiss is held in and pulls it towards him. She watches as he pulls the keys from his pocket, unlocking the padlock and opening the door. She doesn't move, afraid he'll think she's making an escape. 

"Get out here," Adam growls, and Weiss moves forward. As soon as her head is in reach he grabs at her ponytail and yanks her the rest of the way out of the van, dropping her to the floor like a sack of potatos. Weiss doesn't have to fake the grunt of pain from the awkward fall. 

As he pulls her up roughly, Weiss scans her new surroundings. It's a dirt parking lot, just outside a fenced-in building that seems to be in a wooded clearing. The building itself is tall, with radio dishes hanging over the edge. It seemed military in nature, spartan in design. 

Adam manhandles her hands behind her back, tying her wrists together with something or other she couldn't see. She barely scowls the judgemental scowl from her face as he actually clips a leash to the collar around her neck, his sneering face a hair's breadth away from her own. Weiss doesn't trust herself to hold her neutral expression, instead, she breaks eye contact and looks at the floor like the kind of meek woman Adam seems to think she is. 

Thankfully for her, Adam simply motions her forward towards the gates, rather than dragging her by the leash. It makes her suspicious, but she doesn't comment on the gift horse. Adam's hand still rests in a ready position on his katana, and Weiss would bet he could cut her down if she tried anything anyway. 

Adam leads them to the steel gate, which appears to be locked. Weiss can spot a handful of cars in a lot behind the gate as Adam takes a stance. With a crash, the bull Faunus cuts the chains on the gate before making an exaggerated motion for her to advance. Weiss hesitantly does so as the terrorist sheaths his blade, the gate opening with a rattling of the now destroyed chains. As they approach the building, Weiss glance towards the cars she can without Adam noticing. They seem to have been used recently with dust on the tires and mud on the side of one, which gives her hope there may be people inside who can help end this hostage scenario. It's not till they get to the front door and she catches Adam's bloodthirsty smile that she realizes people inside could also just as well be more victims for the psychopath beside her. 

Adam nudges Weiss's back with the shotgun end of his weapon, pushing her towards the door. Weiss's mind races, hoping to find some way to warn the building's occupants but before any plan can form she finds herself flying into the cracked door from a kick straight to her back. She flies into the room, rebounding slightly off the door and rolling through the room a soccer ball while a shotgun blast rings over her head. When the room stops spinning Weiss barely has time to take in the generic reception room before Adam yanks her up by her forearm. He pushes her forward towards a door on the opposite wall of the one they entered from, past a desk with a splatter of blood across it. She's thankful for the forced pace for a short moment, not wanting to see Adam's handiwork. 

Adam marches her through the building, towards a set of stairs that rise two stories. They come to another set of doors, these swinging doors with like on the Schnee Manor kitchens. Adam puts a hand over Weiss's mouth and slips through the doors, glancing around as he does. Weiss, mouth muffled, has no way to warn the half dozen people working in this large control room, clearly the operations center for the radio tower. Adam chuckles as he finds a security camera to the right of the door, mounted on the wall. He grabs the loop of the leash around Weiss's neck, tossing it up and around the camera. Due to her own short stature and the height the camera is mounted at, Weiss finds herself immobilized as the leash goes taut around her neck. She scrabbles on her toes, barely managing to keep the collar from digging further into her neck by doing so. 

"Now you be a good girl and wait," Adam whispers into Weiss's ear, far too close for comfort. The voice in the back of her head tells her to wipe the shock from her face but she isn't fast enough, given Adam's malicious grin. "This will take just a moment." Adam turns around, finally letting go of Weiss's mouth. 

"RUN!" Weiss screams and the world seems to slow down as the radio technicians turn around, taking in the restrained heiress and the bull Faunus approaching them like a predator stalks prey. One of them reaches for something on the table behind him, only to be slammed against the table via the shotgun slug released by Adam's weapon. The sound echoes through the high ceiling chamber as Adam leaps forward, his blade flashing faster than Weiss can follow, carving technician after technician into pieces. Blood splatters all over the consoles and the screams are like an echo to the shotgun sound, the orchestra of violence reverberating through the room. Weiss can't stop the tears from falling as she watches the slaughter, nor can she let out the sob she needs to lest she let the collar tighten further around her neck. It couldn't have been more than 10 seconds but the violence before her was nothing like a Grimm battle, where the demonic beasts would fade to dust. Each second was excruciatingly long as the residents of the room let out their final cries over the sound of Adam's laughter. After what felt like hours, Adam wipes the blood from his blade with the corpse of a blonde woman with a low chuckle still reverberating from his chest.

"I did say be a good girl, didn't I?" He asks. Words don't come to Weiss in time and he turns to her, the madman sporting an expression befitting the title. He stalks towards her and in a low voice continues, "I'll be sure to punish you well for that... As soon as we make sure your precious Daddy will be able to hear every last scream you make." Weiss stifles a whimper as Adam turns on his heel, back towards the console.

Weiss looks away from Adam, struggling to calm her breathing. A voice in her head bellowed those these deaths were her fault, for being born, for being a Schnee, for trying to be anything more than a doll for her Father to parade about. With every breath, she tries to expel the thoughts as well, one at a time. Dark as it may be, she focuses on the pinpricks of the choker collar digging into her neck, the pain giving her clarity. There was a time for guilt, she slowly came to accept. Now was not it. 

Adam sits down in a chair with a thump, putting his feet up on the console. On the wall across from Weiss, a projector boots up showing some kind of call symbol. It blinks, far longer than Weiss thought one should before it's finally picked up. Despite the projector being meant for a video call, no face appears, only a black screen. 

"You have some nerve," a very posh sounding voice echoes through the room. The easy drawl reminds Weiss of the upper crust of Atlas, though she can't recognize the voice as a business partner of her Father's. 

"I need a connection to Schnee," Adam says, as cavalier as his lazy posture would suggest. 

"What benefit is there to helping you now? You drove your precious White Fang into becoming a peaceful organization. For a terrorist, that must be an utter embarrassment."

"I grew beyond them!" Adam barks a little too quickly. "And I can prove it."

"Oh you foolish boy, you do realize I don't give a rat's ass about the Faunus, don't you?"

"I never believed you did for a minute. I simply believe what I have is mutually beneficial to both of us, or should I say to your so-called Queen." Adam stands up, stalking towards Weiss. 

"I'd watch your tone in how you refer to her, animal," the voice says warningly as Adam uses his katana to slice the security camera the leash was stuck on off the wall. It clatters to the floor and Weiss stumbles. Adam grabs her forearm and leads her towards the opposite side of the room. Weiss catches Adam's expression out of the corner of her eye as he does, only noting it because the confident smirk is different than any of the psychopathic expressions she'd seen on him before.

"You wouldn't be sulking would you?" the caller says, and yet Adam's expression doesn't change. He brings her to the open area just before the wall the projection is on, pushing her down to her knees. He grabs the end of the leash again, this time tying it to the leg of the nearest table. Weiss grimaces, she won't be able to unknot that with her arms tied behind her. 

"I'm hanging up, you useless-" 

"Hold on. I simply had to prepare her," Adam replies in an icy tone that sends a shiver down Weiss's spine. Adam looks to her and winks, the uncharacteristic motion as terrifying as the smile on his face before he makes a show of pressing a button on the console. The projection updates with a smaller window in the corner, displaying a view of the exact area Weiss was placed in. Weiss quickly glances to where the camera is, mounted on the wall below the projection's bottom edge.

"...My. I can see why you have need of Schnee now." Weiss shifts awkwardly, despite the caller not being visible, his tone projects the image of someone eyeing her up like a piece of meat. "Do you have any more of a plan than this?"

"As a matter of fact... Get me on the phone with Jacques, and record it. I'll give you all the material you need to run the bastard's name through the mud. After that, I'll pay the Grimm shit a little visit..." That confident smirk returns to Adam's face, looking right into the camera. "And that will leave a void in Atlas, one a certain Queen might have an interest in filling with someone more amenable to her... outlook." There's silence for a while, Weiss daring to look between the camera and Adam. If the Queen is the only Queen she can think of... She suddenly wonders if she's better off with Adam. 

There's a ding, and Adam's face widens into a grin. He pulls a scroll from his pocket, chuckling softly at whatever he saw. 

"Out of utmost respect for my former colleague... Please, inform him that you've found his precious missing daughter for me." There's a click, and the projector turns off on its own. Adam's chuckle becomes a barking laugh. 

"Oh, I will... I absolutely will," Adam mutters. He gives Weiss a predatory look before dialing another number into the console, the dial tone ringing fear deeper into her heart. 

\---  
\---


	6. Chapter 6

Panic consumes Blake the longer she waits in the back of the van. She removed herself from her hiding place the moment the doors closed again, but she wasn't sure how long she'd need to wait to stay out of Adam's sight. His preference may be violence but he trained her in stealth, she was positive he'd spot her if she was too close. But at the same time, every minute she spent waiting in this van Weiss was one step closer to suffering more in Blake's place, which drove the cat faunus's mind in an endless loop. 

Blake ends up focusing on her breathing, promising after twenty long, controlled breaths she would have waited long enough and be calm enough to pursue. It does little for her nerves, but she is at least confident she'd given Adam enough of a headstart. Blake creaks open the van door, taking in the surroundings. She suppresses an ironic laugh; Adam had tailed her to a military radio station yesterday and now here she was, tailing him into one. She doesn't spot Adam or Weiss, so she removes herself from the van. Blake spots the chains that had held the fence gate closed cut on the ground, assuring her Adam went into the station. She moves quickly, staying low and sprinting towards the doors of the station.

Blake comes up alongside the doors, then peaks in through the ajar one. Her panic resurfaces as she sees the blood spatter on the wall, immediately assuming it's Weiss's. Ignoring the voice of reason in her head (which oddly enough, sounded like a mix of Yang and Weiss) she bolts into the room, skidding to a stop as she rounds the bloodsoaked desk. She's both relieved to find an Atlisan soldier dead on the floor and disgusted with herself for being relieved a man is dead before her. Putting aside her guilt for after Weiss is safely away from the monster who did this, Blake glances about the room. She was positive Adam would have headed up the stairs behind the desk. She was also sure he'd spot her in a heartbeat if she followed him through a door he came through earlier, and her fears more than assured her he'd kill her and Weiss at that point. Blake looks past the door, scanning the rest of the room for something else to go on.

She hits pay dirt with a bloodied map on the desk. Wincing as she pulls it out of the pool of blood it rests in, she can make out the layout of the building. There's a variety of smaller rooms on the first and second floors, unlikely with anything to peak Adam's interest, but the third floor is a massive room labeled 'Operations'. Whatever he was up to, logic dictated he'd be able to do it from there. Blake frowns, squinting at the stained map. She couldn't be sure, but by the looks of it the third-floor operations room extended into the fourth floor, a high ceiling type of deal. High ceilings, for those with cat-like agility, meant places to hide. That was her ticket in. Blake looks for another set of stairs on the map, but only finds the one. If she wanted to get up there without Adam seeing her... 

"Damnit," she hisses. Blake drops the map on the floor and makes for the outside door.

\---

"Of course I have to climb the outside of the building. Why is it always the outside of the building for the cat Faunus, never a nice inside ladder or even a warm vent?" Blake grumbles, slowly leaping from hand hold to hand hold on the side of the radio tower. The sleek and minimalistic design of it makes for few places for her to latch onto and it's a slow crawl up the side of the building. The wind seems to pick up the higher she gets, numbing her fingers as she holds on. Falling wouldn't kill her, her landing strategies were well-practiced. The fear that drove Blake to hold on wasn't for herself, it was for Weiss. This was already slow climbing, if she had to start from the beginning that meant more time for Adam to do serious harm to Blake's friend. 

Finally, a fourth-floor window comes within reach. Blake pushes up on it and smiles for what feels like the first time in years as it easily lifts to allow her inside. She pads down into what looks like a private office. With the door closed and no chance of Adam spotting her yet, she stretches out quickly from the climb. Blake glances over the desk, hoping for another miracle map or fire escape plan, but she doesn't have the same luck as she did downstairs. She listens at the door for any noises before slowly creaking it open. 

The hallway is empty, more offices lining the wall behind her and the wall across from her a large glass window overlooking the operations room. Blake ducks immediately, afraid of somehow being spotted from a floor down. She moves forward and peers over the bottom edge of the window, taking in the room below. It's massive, rows of consoles facing a large wall at the end... Where Weiss sits on the floor, something tying her to desk leg. The restraint explains how Adam can be away from Weiss without her escaping but Blake can't imagine he's far. She scans the room again, catching a glimpse of the terrorist at a console just below her. He seems to be talking to someone, but she can't hear through the glass. 

Blake stands, looking up and down the hallway. She can't hear or get the drop on Adam from behind a glass wall, she needs a way forward. It's plain as day through the window that there's no upper floor to the operations room for her to simply enter. She can see the entire room floor to ceiling from the window before her. Her best bet is to somehow get to the beams crossing the ceiling with sheets of thick fabric hanging from them. Velvet had mentioned those to her before, actually, they're used for dampening echoes in large rooms.

Blake moves up and down the hallway quickly as she can, looking for a way to access the beams or even the dampening curtains. An initial pass doesn't reveal even a single way to access them, and she prays they weren't put up by people on ladders in the operations room itself. Her salvation comes in the form of an air duct, actually in the office she entered the building from. It's in the ceiling but it's child's play for her to climb up to it with a chair and her own agility. 

Estimating the correct direction, she shimmies her way through the vent towards the operation room. She finds one dead end, heart pounding in her chest, before trying the next turn. The second turn reveals a vent that drops down right near a beam in the operations room and Blake can barely contain her excitement. She was going to do this, she'd be able to get to Weiss before anything else can happen to the heiress in her place. Gambol Shroud's stumped blade makes for good leverage and she lifts the grate off the vent with minimal effort. It's tight, but she slides through and drops onto the beam with grace, turning to look towards where she last saw Weiss.

A projector turns on in the center of the room, mounted nearly as high as the support beams. Blake turns to look only to see the face of Jacques Schnee on the large wall in the room. Blake glances down towards Weiss only to see Adam standing over her, Blush aimed squarely at the back of her teammate's skull. Jacques Schnee's voice echoes through the room via speakers mounted around the room. 

"Who in blazes gave you this number?!" the man bellows. It seems the response was in his mouth before he even looked at the video being shared with him, the view of Weiss on her knees with a gun to her head. Jacques's face hardens, the obvious frustrating melting off it in high resolution. "You again."

"Me again," Adam replies. "Maybe this time you'll be more willing to listen to my demands? You can see your daughter is right here with me. No hoax, an absolute political scandal in the making." 

"This is why a good woman stays at home, where she is sheltered and not causing me trouble." Blake knew Jacques wasn't Father of the year by any means from what little Weiss had said, but the man didn't seem the least bit concerned his daughter was at gunpoint before him. Blake winces in sympathy for Weiss. 

"Oh, I agree with you. This little brat would be far better kept in her gilded cage for the rest of her life," Adam looks down at Weiss. "Better than the dog crate I have for you, don't you think?" Weiss doesn't give either of them the credit of a reaction. 

"So? What is it you want?" 

"I'm afraid you'll refuse a request for your head on a silver platter, so I'll have to settle for the second most important thing to you." Adam cuts off a response from Jacques and continues, "No, don't worry. I know it's not your little brat here. The only thing as important to a man as toxic as yourself is your money." Jacques is silent for a moment.

"The SDC does not respond to terrorism," Jacques says like he's reading a brochure. Blake couldn't believe her ears. Years and years of hatred for Jacques Schnee boil up inside her, however, this time that anger isn't directed at his mistreatment of her entire race. No, now her rage is entirely for Weiss, that Weiss had this bastard of a human being to call Father. Blake would have disowned him years ago. 

"Now now, Jacques," Adam says and his tone gives Blake goosebumps. She knew that tone. Adam got what he wanted from that statement and that scared her. Adam was at his best, running gambits to get what he wants rather than using brute force. "I thought this was a discussion of trade between two businessmen?"

"Ha!" The laugh is the only time in this conversation he's had an ounce of emotion on his face. "You're no businessman. Just another crook looking to rake me for what I'm worth. You're not the first, and you won't be the last to try and fail at that." Adam doesn't reply. Jacques looks down on the Faunus, literally, the smugness emanating off even a projection of him. 

"Then I guess I'm a terrorist, just like you say." The icy words, barely above a whisper, somehow echo through the operations room. They wrap around Blake's heart and mind, damn near causing her to drop from her hiding place. She... she knew that tone. Flashbacks of outbursts and violence in the White Fang camps flash before her eyes and the shout to distract him dies on her lips.

Adam moves faster than anyone can trace, the Faunus slamming his leg into Weiss. She cries out in pain, and Adam keeps up the vicious assault. Weiss is looking up as the hits slam into her, and her eyes make contact with Blake's own. The determination shining through the pain in her friend's eyes break Blake from her memories. She was here for Weiss, her friend, and she wouldn't be stopped by anything.

And yet... Weiss shakes her head, barely noticeable as she winces and tears pour down her face. Blake searches her face for an answer, a reason, and Weiss's own words echo in Blake's head. "Wait for the opening we need." Weiss... couldn't want her to sit and watch this? Watch one of the most important people in her world be beaten because of her mistake? This was opportunity enough, she just needed the drop on Adam and... 

Then it would be Blake, with a damaged weapon, and an injured Weiss against the a man powerful enough to take down Beacon Academy's finest. That wasn't... Blake choked on the very thought, but that wasn't the opportunity they needed. Blake lowers her hand from the hilt of Gambol Shroud and she can see Weiss's approval in her eyes. Blake wipes a tear from her own. Adam finally stops, panting and chuckling darkly. 

"Well, Jacques? Surrender everything to the White.... to me, and your daughter doesn't have to suffer any longer." Adam lifts Weiss from the floor by the hair. "Isn't that right? Isn't it time for Daddy Dearest to save you?" He sneers into her ear. Weiss winces as if his voice alone gave her pain before heaving a ragged sigh. 

"I..." She mutters out slowly before turning to face Adam with a spiteful glare. "Told you my Father cares nothing but for his money and reputation." Adam drops her to the floor again and kicks her. 

"Jacques, say something. I'm sure you can't live with your daughter thinking so lowly of you?"

"... The SDC does not negotiate with terrorists." He repeats in the same clipped monotone as before. 

"And I'm the monster," Adam says with a whistle. "Are you sure?" Adam draws Wilt and thrusts the blade into Weiss's leg. She screams as the blade penetrates her thigh without her aura to protect her. The scream is lengthy and breaks Blake's heart into further and further pieces with every second. It's an eternity, or perhaps only seconds, before he removes the blade, not having broken eye contact with Jacques once as he sheathes the blade again. 

"..." 

"Well. Maybe you need a minute to say goodbye," Adam says. Blake's heart leaps to her throat fearing he'll kill off Weiss for the mear shock factor of it. "To your money, of course. I'll call again. I'll expect you to be a little more amenable next time. Else we'll have to see what Daddy's little girl here can do to your reputation." Adam stalks over to a console and slams a button. The projector shuts off, ending the call. 

"Up, brat." Adam grunts at Weiss. She's slow to it, but she sits up. Adam unties the leash from the desk. He lifts her up by the arm and attempts to drag her along, but she stumbles with a cry when she tries to put weight on her wounded leg. Adam lets her fall. "... Damnit." He looks over Weiss for a moment before reaching down and unlocking the collar around her neck. 

"You think about using your semblance, your death will be guaranteed," he growls at her. She nods fearfully, though Blake is sure it's an act. Weiss having her aura means she'll be able to fight when their opportunity does finally appear, Weiss must know that as well. Adam tosses Weiss over his shoulder and stalks towards dialing a number on his scroll. 

"I need a ship to Atlas. Asap, I can't wait for the usual..." Adam trails off as the operating room doors close behind him. Blake frowns, knowing she'll never be able to acrobat her way down to the van fast enough to smuggle herself along again. That said... There was only one shipyard in Argus, and one of the safehouse locations on the board in the bookstore was located there. Argus White Fang had access to a boat, and Blake was sure it was what Adam intended to use to get to Atlas. Air travel was impossible and Adam's just overconfident enough to think he can sail into Atlas without being sunk by a sea Grimm. All she needed was a vehicle... And the people Adam murdered wouldn't need theirs.

\---  
\---

Two left!

The inspiration for this infiltration was an area in The Last of Us 2, where Ellie has to climb her way into a once tv tower. Definitely gave me an image to go off describing Blake's efforts in following Weiss.

These past few chapters were written in an ill fated attempt to do NaNoWriNo. I had the content of the last three chapters (The Van through leaving the Station) outlined and when I ran outta outlines my steam on NaNo died ^^;;


	7. Chapter 7

The wind rips through Blake's hair on the stolen motorcycle. She tries not to think about how a Yarizaki bike is anything but Altas military issue so the former owner was likely a civilian, because the deaths in the radio station were tragic enough as it was. She hadn't made it out of the station in time to directly tail Adam's van, but that was probably for the best. The roads to the dockyard are all backroads, and someone following him for any length of time would make him paranoid. The element of surprise was still her best weapon against him, what with Gambol Shroud broken. 

She grimaces under the flared collar of her jacket. Weiss, no insult to her, couldn't take Adam alone and Gambol Shroud's pistol rounds are barely going to dent Adam's aura. She bites her lip, shaking the thought off. Weiss doesn't have time for Blake to run down to a forge and repair Gambol Shroud. Blake will improvise. She's not running anymore. 

The dockyard comes into view through the trees, immediately followed by the Atlesian Sea filling the horizon. She steers the bike towards the winding road that leads down to the dockyard entrance. There's a flash in the dusk light, and Blake spots a ship shifting in the water as it slowly separates off from the pier it's tied to. Blake's Faunus night vision kicks into high gear, spotting a shape crossing the gangplank to the main deck dragging a... stark white shape. She couldn't be sure but she hasn't seen anywhere wearing that much white in all of Argus besides Weiss. 

Blake grips the handlebars of the bike hard enough her palms hurt, then shifts away from the winding path down the hill. She launches herself over the side of the grassy knoll, the clenching of her teeth the only thing keeping her from screaming as she falls towards the slope of the hill. With a bone-rattling bounce the bike touches down halfway down the hill and Blake lets out a cry as she struggles to keep it upright. She has to physically kick it from falling to the right at one point but she manages and finally takes a glance up at the boat.

The boat has pulled out past the pier already, though it hasn't gained any real speed. Blake mutters a curse under her breath as she reaches the level ground of the dockyard. Her quick descent gives her the momentum to plow through the dockyard at breakneck speeds, swerving out of the way of crates and dock workers alike. She hears angry grunts behind her from the latter but she twists the accelerator so far forward she wonders if it will break. She flies over a small staircase and crashes down on the pier the boat left from, racing down it at top speed. 

Blake stands on the bike and reaches for Gambol Shroud before the bike flies over the edge of the pier and she leaps as high as she can. Gambol Shroud is whipped out towards the stern, the weapon wrapping around a towing hook as Blake hits the water. The water hits her like a truck and Blake can barely hold onto Gambol Shroud, but she quickly begins pulling herself towards the boat. She can feel herself moving faster, the boat must be picking up speed. Her lungs ache as she reaches the tail end of the boat and she quickly glances up before breaking the water's surface with a gasp. 

Her ears, waterlogged as they may be, pick up footsteps immediately after she surfaces. Panicking, Blake inhales as deep as she can and dives under again, being pulled along but hidden by the waves the boat's making. She looks up to see Adam staring down at her. Her heart seizes in her chest and she had to grind her teeth together to keep from opening her mouth in a panic. Adam... doesn't move though. He glances back towards the dock, then back down directly at where Blake is submerged, but only scowls. 

Blake's relief in realizing Adam can't see her is immediately cleared away as her lungs strain for air they no longer contain. Blake watches Adam as her heart pounds and her vision starts to fade, praying to whichever Gods Ozpin said were real that Adam would give up. Her mouth cracks open in an automatic reaction, desperate for air and seawater fills her lungs and Adam moves, turning back towards the bow. Blake pulls herself to the surface with every muscle in her arms, her legs kicking wildly and she breaks the surface again with a frantic grasp. She clings to the stern of the boat, frantically panting as she's dragged through the icy water. She has to muffle a few coughs to expel the water from her lungs. 

Blake finally takes one last deep breath, her body satisfied with her oxygen intake once again. She's glad she has the right boat, at least, and didn't nearly drown sneaking onto a regular fishing vessel. She flattens her ears to her head and peaks up over the stern. There's a large cabin on the deck, stairs leading to the roof of the cabin which is presumably an upper deck. There's deck all around the cabin from the looks of it, and given how deep the stern of the boat goes beneath the water, Blake is sure there's a lower deck as well. She looks in through the doorway of the cabin, seeing what looks like two rooms. The first, and closer to her, is a sitting area. Through a door on the other side of that room is definitely the control room for the boat. She could hazard a guess Adam is there now. 

Confident she won't be caught just by getting onto the deck, and also quite sure another minute in this water will give her hypothermia, Blake quietly pulls herself onto the deck. She regretfully ditches the leather jacket she got from Saphron. It's soaked through, and as soon as it dried it would be no different than a straight jacket. Blake moves up to flank the doorway of the sitting room. She peers inside, checking the corners she couldn't see from the back of the boat. No Weiss. Blake grabs at a mounted ladder to the upper deck, lifting herself up. She quickly scans to find it empty as well. That left two places to find Weiss, the control room or the lower deck.

Blake slides around the side of the cabin, making her way to a side window of the control room. With a steadying breath, she slowly peaks into the room. Adam is at the console, thankfully facing forward. Weiss isn't in here with him. Blake notes a set of stairs going down behind Adam, probably the lower deck stairs she needs, of course right beside Adam. She pulls back, slipping towards the stern of the deck again. She shivers, hugging herself momentarily to warm up her exposed arms. There can't just be one way down to the lower deck, can there?

She spots it not a moment later, a hatch in the rear deck. Glancing towards the cabin again, she crouches down and lifts, rewarded with the sight of a ladder going down. She slides down quickly, making sure to close the hatch as quietly as possible. 

\---

The hatch leads to a storage room, mostly empty and completely dark. Blake doubts the White Fang has been able to smuggle much into Mantle these days, the ship was probably in mothballs before Adam called. There's a door in the far wall which she slowly opens. Her ears twitch in irritation at the pounding of machinery, she's in the engine room. Two large engines dominate the room, the outer walls dotted with shelves and fuel tanks and unlike the storage room, the lights are on. She moves between the two engines, stepping quietly out of habit despite the loud noise in the room to mask her movements. The noise seems to disappear as her ears catch the one thing she wants to hear more than anything else. 

"Blake!" Weiss half whispers, half shouts. Blake's head whips to the left, Weiss is there, smiling despite her bruised and battered body and clothes. Blake can feel her own expression melting into one of relief and she lets it, they both deserve a moment of peace. Blake hugs Weiss, only realizing Weiss's arms are handcuffed to a pole behind her when Weiss doesn't return the hug. Blake makes short work of the cuffs, her days of breaking into SDC storehouses finally proving useful. The hug Weiss gives her in thanks is strong and now Blake understands why Yang said Weiss gives the best hugs. For a so called ice queen, the warmth that comes off her teammate is absolutely breathtaking. They separate far too quickly for Blake's liking, and Weiss steels her expression. 

"What now?" Blake asks. 

"Can we get off the ship the same way you got on?" Blake thinks back to the bike, clearly at the bottom of the bay with the accelerator jammed at full speed. 

"No, I didn't catch up via boat." Weiss quirks an eyebrow in confusion but doesn't comment further. Blake hands her Myrtenaster and she checks the dust stores, spinning the weapon's chambers about. 

"Gambol Shroud is broken, isn't it?"

Blake doesn't reply, instead drawing the weapon. the cut short blade folds out and Weiss winces. 

"I'm sorry," Weiss says with a sympathetic look. 

"Pistol form still works, so I have that much at least..." Blake trails off. Weiss sighs.

"We're in over our heads still, aren't we?" Blake smiles sadly and confirms it with a small nod. Weiss puts a hand on Blake's own.

"At least we're together now." 

Blake's reply is cut off when the lights go off throughout the lower deck. Blake grabs Weiss by the wrist and drags her around the side of an engine. The engines cut off at that moment, and Blake can very clearly hear footsteps above them. A glance at Weiss's face confirms she can hear them too, as they transition from deck to stairs. The creaks of the cabin staircase feel as loud as the engines in the now quiet engine room and the two girls duck out of sight. 

Adam stalks into the room, pausing momentarily to see the unlocked cuffs and Weiss missing. Blake can see his expression through a gap in the engine's piping and the snarl on his face sends a shiver down her spine. She's seen it so many times before, he would kill innocents, or get rough or... The nervous spiral of her thoughts fades to the background as Weiss presses a hand to Blake's arm. Mental demons later... real demons now. Adam begins a slow, deliberate walk towards the other engine.

"I thought that I warned you, Schnee. If you tried anything... I'd make the things I've done to you so far feel like a slap on the wrist. That you'd know pain like no one on REMNANT has ever known! I assure you, heiress, I will be sure to make good on my word," Adam suddenly spins around the opposite side of the engine. If he chose the right engine instead of the left, the two would be staring him in the face right now. 

Blake motions quickly for Weiss to follow and Weiss mouths that she can't see. Blake grabs her teammate's hand and they two quickly move into the room Adam came from, a bedroom. Blake shoves the two of them up against the doorway wall as Adam's sword being drawn rings out through the silent engine room. 

"There's nowhere to run, Schnee! You'll face all the pain the Faunus have suffered because of your Father's greed!" Adam shouts out, the threat echoing throughout the boat. Blake can hear Adam's bootsteps pounding towards their last hiding place. When he doesn't find Weiss there either, he smashes his blade into something, the clang loud and ringing. Blake takes that as their moment and leads Weiss through the dark bedroom up the stairs to the main deck.

"He'll hear every footstep we make up here, come on," Blake says as she turns to Weiss. The heiress picks up the pace and the two are on the rear deck as Adam comes pounding up the stairs. The two members of team RWBY look to one another, nod, and draw their weapons. 

\---  
\---

Finally together!


	8. Chapter 8

"Blake." Adam stalks out of the cabin, Wilt sliding into its sheath. Blake knows it's more dangerous there than it is drawn and grips Gambol Shroud's pistol grip tighter.

"Adam." She replies icily. 

"Am I seeing this correctly?" Adam motions at the two huntresses, "After everything, everything we did together, everything we were together you choose to side with a Schnee? You choose to come back for a Schnee, after running from me for years?"

"I did. Weiss is my teammate, and my friend. Her Father's actions are not her's Adam."

Adam chokes out a laugh. "All humans are to blame for the treatment of the Faunus! Your so called teammate is just as much to blame as the men who all but enslave us!"

"No Adam," Blake straightens up, her shoulders squaring. "That corrupted view is why I left in the first place. All people are not the evil you make them out to be. I couldn't live with myself if I supported your violence and hate any longer. Weiss, Ruby, Yang... I've met so many kind people, human and Faunus alike. All I had to do to see them was to stop letting you control my world. I'll never come back to you Adam, I'll never let you control me again."

Adam snarls and dives at Blake. Wilt whips out of Blush but Weiss steps in front of Blake, Myrtenaster intercepting and deflecting Wilt. Blake leaps to her left and fires at Adam as he swings deadly strikes at Weiss. Myrtenaster isn't strong enough to take the hits head on so Weiss is forced to parry every single swing and with Adam's strength, it's hard to keep that up for more than a few exchanges. 

The pistol fire breaks Adam's assault off, the bull Faunus firing off a trio of shots from Blush at Blake. She dives for cover, the third shot clattering against the cabin wall she's made it behind. Weiss tries to take advantage of the distraction, Myrtenaster's barrel spinning as her semblance forms a circle beside her. She's quickly interrupted by another onslaught of slashes, putting her on the defensive again.

Blake bolts from her hiding place, the sheath of Gambol Shroud in her right hand as she swings for Adam's head. He steps to the left, leaving Blake to swing wide and forcing her to roll out of the way of a punishing slash that nearly cuts her foot off. Adam swings his wrist in the other direction, jamming the hilt of Wilt into Weiss's face and knocking her back. Blake scrambles to her feet just in time to block Wilt from severing her left arm. 

"Why Blake? What changed?" Adam growls out as he hammers Wilt against Blake's sheath. He changes angle suddenly, sweeping for Blake's side. Blake barely gets Gambol Shroud between her and the blade, the force of the clash knocking her to the ground. She rolls with the fall and springs to her feet as Adam takes potshots at Weiss, keeping her from using her dust or semblance. 

Blake growls a battle cry of her own as she fires three rounds at Adam that he side steps. Gambol Shroud's sheath is blocked with Wilt and an aside, pitying glance from Adam. He pushes her off, destabilizing her and she's forced to use her semblance to retreat. As she reappears 10 feet behind her clone Adam has renewed his assault on Weiss, the fencer putting all of her training to the test as she deflects Wilt's aggressive slashes. 

Weiss manages to unbalance Adam with a particularly good parry, choosing to kick off him and gain distance. He doesn't fall, steady as a stone as she flips back and Blake's heart pounds when Adam sheathes Wilt.

"Weiss, watch out!" Blake screams. Weiss doesn't even look at Blake, only nodding as Adam makes to unleash the full force of his semblance upon her. Blake dashes forward in what feels like slow motion as she watches the red blade fly forward, the combined force of every parry he's taken with it in a single blow and it slams to a halt when a massive ghostly blue sword intercepts, appearing from a circle behind Weiss.

The heiress is in her summoning posture, blade held vertical before her and eyes closed. Blake wants to laugh, Weiss risked her entire life on that summon working. Adam's snarl of frustration takes the laughing mood from Blake as she engages Adam, getting a few good hits in while he's too angry to focus. Weiss appears by her side and the two trade off strikes against Adam's own blade. The two together keep Adam from overwhelming them but they gain little ground against the terrorist. Adam's anger makes every counterattack harder and harder to deflect, somehow adding to his strength. 

Adam swings heavily against Blake's sheath and she is forced to step back to avoid taking Wilt to the stomach once again. Weiss thrusts forward only for Adam to forgo blocking with Wilt, reaching out and grabbing Weiss by the neck as Myrtenaster shoots past him. He lifts her up, strangling her as she grasps at his hand with her free hand. Blake screams and dives forward with a wild swing at Adam's arm, but Wilt whips up and cleaves even Gambol Shroud's sheath in two. Blake isn't deterred, she drops the broken sheath to draw Gambol Shroud forward, jamming the pistol into his stomach and firing wildly. Adam grunts in pain, dropping Weiss and pounding Wilt's hilt into Blake's skull. Blake's aura shatters and she has the sense to roll away despite the ringing in her ears. She stands up, the cabin entrance to her back as Adam removes Wilt from the deck where she had just fell. Weiss is off to the right, Adam deads center of the rear deck. 

Weiss walks up to Blake, whispering in the faunus's ear, "Activate an SOS beacon or something, I'll hold him long enough. We're going to need back up." Blake opens her mouth to argue but Weiss winks at her. "Trust me, okay?" Blake nods mutely at Weiss's back as the heiress steps up to Adam.

"You wanna know something? You and Jacques? You're cut from the same cloth." Adam growls but Weiss continues, "He's too much of a coward to do more than slap his defenseless daughter, to be fair. Not quite the physical abuse master that you are. But he's just like you on the inside. An abusive and manipulative dirtbag who treats the people around him as things to be used to his pleasure." Blake's surprised by the steel in Weiss's voice as she bolts for the control room, it's no less than Blake's own condemnation of Adam.

"I fight for-," Weiss cuts him off with a swing of Myrtenaster through the air.

"You fight for power, for control! I doubt the plight of the Faunus even matters to you anymore, you just want to reassert your power over Blake to salvage what's left of your pathetic ego when your White Fang was rejected by the very people they pretend to protect!" 

Adam's response is a gutteral shout, raw like that of an animal. He charges at Weiss and she meets him halfway, Myrtenaster valiantly standing up to the weight of Wilt. Weiss makes use of her small size to duck or side stepp attacks whenever possible. She keeps Adam at the edge of her range as much as possible, Myrtenaster was built for thrusting attacks while Wilt was designed to slash, the slight difference in their range gives her an edge as long as she stays out of his cutting range. Anytime she can force him to use Blush is a win in her book, his rage has made his aim terrible even at such close range.

Despite her best efforts, every time she has to parry Adam grows a little stronger and harder to parry the next time. His skills are sharp, even mad as he is she can't break his guard. Adam was a warrior forged by years of combat and violence and he's only survived this long because no matter his anger he's capable of fighting off Huntsman and soldier alike. The best Weiss can do is keep up the pressure to give Blake more time to call for help; and keep Adam from sheathing his blade. It was a miracle she survived the first strike, and every second the fight goes makes the inevitable second strike more powerful.

Weiss pants, barely dodging a cut from Wilt and raising Myrtenaster in time to deflect the follow up. She thrusts Myrtenaster forward, but with horror she realizes just how slow she was moving when Adam sidesteps her exhausted attempt and once again grabs her by the neck. He marches her forward, Myrtenaster clattering to the deck as she uses both hands to try and break his grip. Adam lifts and slams her against the wall of the cabin.

Blake dashes out of the console room, leaving via the side entrance less Adam see her coming. She bolts down the side of the cabin and stops dead in her tracks as she reaches the rear deck. Weiss is pinned against the wall, struggling for breath, Myrtenaster is across the deck... and Wilt is angled directly at Weiss's heart.

"Adam, wait," Blake starts but he turns to her. His mask is gone, his eyes cold with fury.

"No Blake. No more games. You'll never come back to me," The calmness in Adam's voice is more terrifying than Blake has ever seen him, "And I'm done chasing you. I'm going to kill the Schnee, break you as you broke me. Then I'll be the one to choke the life out of your body too." Adam slowly smiles, his eyes widening with a demonic edge to them as he pulls Wilt back for a thurst into Weiss' heart. "Are you ready to be broken, Blake?" 

Three things happen in the next moment. Blake reaches out for Weiss, tears falling from her eyes. Weiss looks to Blake, trying to mouth something through her gasps to Blake. And a distinct sniper rifle cracks off above them all.

Adam screams, dropping Weiss. They all look up to see an Atlesian airship above them, the side door open and a familiar red cape fluttering from it. More sniper rounds fly from Ruby's rifle, though Adam is able to dodge them without the element of surprise. Through the covering fire, a blonde blur drops out of the door and lands on the deck with a distinct cracking of shotgun gauntlets. 

"I believe... We have a score to settle," Yang says to Adam with a cock of her hips. Blake spots the shaking in Yang's good hand but Adam doesn't as he launches into a whirlwind of strikes at the brawler. Blake takes the chance to slide down in front of Weiss.

"Please tell me you're okay, please gods Weiss-" 

It takes Weiss a few tries to croak out the words, but Blake's cut off with, "I'm fine, help Yang!" and Blake nods. 

Yang tanks hits, deflects Wilt, and dodges him over and over, punishing Adam with a jab or hook whenever his strikes are too wild. It eats into her aura but she doesn't activate her own semblance. Her controlled combat seems to drive Adam to new levels of rage and it makes him all the sloppier. Between his own rage and the sniper cover from Ruby circling above, Yang is almost toe to toe with the terrorist leader.

Yang glances beyond Adam to see Blake moving towards the fight, picking up Myrtenaster as she does. Yang redirects her attention to Adam, taking a few hits from Adam that deplete her aura to set up a heavy punch into the faunus's chest. Adam is launched backward, right into Blake's range. 

Blake's no fencer, but she faces off against Adam in the center of the deck as he sheathes Wilt. Yang is making her way around to Weiss, and even Ruby has stopped firing. Blake locks eyes with Adam. The eyes, as her books often say, are the windows to the soul and Adam's are nothing but a bonfire fueled by hatred and spite. Only Adam would ever know it, but her own were steeled with a strength that only comes for fighting not only for oneself but for the ones they love.

Adam charges forward with a shout that embodies all of his rage, all of his hate. He's moving faster than anyone has seen him move before but to Blake, it was as if he was moving in slow motion. Wilt creaks out of the scabbard of Blush and Blake shifts, bending just under her former mentor's slash. As she watches it crawl past her, she remembers when he showed her exactly how this very technique worked. She remembers back when Adam had a soul.. Back when he cared for anything other than power. 

She remembers who Adam once was... and knows as she plunges Myrtenaster into Adam's chest hilt deep she's doing what that Adam would have wanted. Adam chokes on his own blood, Wilt dropping to the deck beside him, and time resumes. Blake pushes Adam forward, letting him drop onto the deck as blood seeps from his wound. His mouth twitches, like he has final words to say... but they fall on deaf ears as the fire fades from his eyes. 

No one says anything for a while. The only sounds are the ocean lapping against the hull of the boat, the slight drone of the airship above them, and the blood dripping from Myrtenaster's tip. Yang helps Weiss up, and the two approach Blake. Weiss places her arm around Blake's waist, pulling her close.

"You okay?" she asks quietly. Blake doesn't reply right away, face fresh with tears for Weiss and the Adam she once knew and herself but her expression frozen as her mind catches up with the world around her. 

When she does, she turns to Weiss with a small smile. "I will be."

\---  
\---

This is my first multi chapter fic I finished! 

This fic actually started from my friends and I talking about some fanart of Weiss and Adam meeting and the angst that would come of it and I wrote a little snippet showing how easy it could have been, which is this:

*Blake at the tower, running from Adam  
They end up at the water fall, gambol shroud broken, Adam stalking towards Blake  
Weiss arrives  
Adam does the abusive ex speech, Weiss sees how scared Blake is  
Weiss: "Can I convince you to leave my teammate alone?"  
Adam: "What could you possibly offer better than Blake?"  
Weiss: "The schnee heiress."  
Adam, eyes her up, starts cackling  
Adam: "Fine then! If that's how it'll be... I can always find Blake later"  
Weiss, drops sword, Blake falls to knees sobbing: "N-no"  
Adam leads Weiss off, smirks at Blake, says something creepy  
Eventually Blake wipes her tears and picks myehmyehmyeh and chases after Adam and Weiss*

After one friend said "How dare you make me feel things", that snippet served as the launching point for the first chapter, and the next two wrote themselves. Took awhile, but I got the idea for 4-6 while driving to visit family of all things, and wrote the outline in my parents driveway on my phone lmao. 7-8 I knew what was going to happen, but it did take a while to sit down and write it. 8 in particular was literally unplanned (the outline said 'confrontation.jpg') and I think it wrote itself out pretty well.

* I forgot which was Wilt and which was Blush literally everytime I started a new chapter, I'm so bad.  
* I had to copy and paste Myrtenaster every time it appears in the fic, because as my snippet shows, I can't spell it  
* Chapters 1-6 were written with "Out of Kindess" on loop from the Persona 5 Royal soundtrack. Chapter 7 was "Keep your Faith" and chapter 8 was "I Believe" from the same.

Thank you so much for reading! Even when I was too busy with avoiding Quarantine depresso to write, Snowflakes Fall got the occasionally kudo or favorite and those email really inspired me to finish this story and I'm so grateful to all of you! (^^) I'd love to hear any thoughts you had on the story too, plz R&R!


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